It’s man versus beast, cowboy against horse – a tradition that goes back to the 1940s in New Zealand. But animal welfare organisations say it’s cruel.

“Animals will be poked with electric prods,” says Kathleen Lafferty of Direct Animal Action. “They have to wear tight flank straps around their abdomens. The cowboys wear spurs. There are a lot of things that do cause pain and distress.”

Direct Animal Action wants to see an end to it.

“We would like, ideally, the Government to put a total nationwide ban on rodeo.”

It is planning to make its voice heard in Warkworth, north of Auckland, when the rodeo comes to town on New Year’s Day.

At Warkworth in three days’ time, the hillside will be packed with thousands of spectators, but some say it’s not a sport at all, that it’s cruelty for the sake of entertainment. Read more »

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.